1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for electrically connecting a printed circuit board with an external device, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for automatically mounting the connector on an end portion of the printed circuit board.
2. Prior Art
In general, various electronic components or parts are mounted on a printed circuit board which is to be incorporated in various electronic apparatus. Among these electronic components or parts, connectors are characterized in that they are usually mounted on an end portion of a printed circuit board for realizing the required function of electrically connecting the printed circuit board to an external device.
A conventionally well-known connector comprises a connector main body made of synthetic resin mold, upper leads protruding in a row from an upper front of the connector main body, and lower leads protruding in a row from a lower front of the connector main body. Upper and lower leads are parallel to each other and a clearance space between these upper and lower leads is substantially identical with a thickness of an edge of the printed circuit board to be coupled with this connector.
Electronic components, such as a resistance chip, a capacitor chip and an IC, are generally mounted on a surface of the printed circuit board from the top of the printed circuit board using a surface mounting method or an insertion mounting method. An exclusive mounting equipment, such as an electronic component mounting device, is normally provided to mounting these electronic components onto the printed circuit board from the top of the printed circuit board.
On the other hand, a mounting operation for a connector is carried out from the side of the printed circuit board, since upper and lower leads of the connector are arranged to clamp the edge of the printed circuit board therebetween, as described above. Due to the difference of above-described mounting directions, the conventional electronic component mounting device could not be used for mounting the connectors. In other words, an automatic mounting operation of connectors was not realized. Thus, connectors are mounted by manual operation of workers.
As a matter of fact, the manual mounting of workers decreases productivity and requires much manpower.